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Tungsten Grinders...

01-30-2013, 03:59 PM

On my post from Welding Tips and Tricks this week Jody mentioned a new tungsten grinder by TechSouth called the PowerPoint. He said he had never recommended these grinders because of price. In the past they were in the $7-900.00 range which he compared to some welders. I could never justify this for home hobby use...This new one can be had on internet for around $230.00 (he said he found one on Amazon for that) I could not. The cheapest I have found is again from my local AirGas distributor at $253.00 plus tax and shipping model number is PPEADJ......here is the info http://www.techsouthinc.com/grinders/adj.html

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This sure looks like a Sharpie brand. Maybe private labled? I picked up a sharpie this year. It is pretty handy on the job, when a grinder isn't handy. It takes some time to get a point. Definatly not as fast as I thought. I keep it in my welding bag just in case. I use a cheepo ryobi grinder at home. Just use it for tungsten. I picked up a wheel dresser at menards for about 6 bucks. It works great to flatten out grooves.

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What is all the hype about these WAY OVER PRICED new tungsten grinders?

I've seen the demos and have even used them on a couple of jobs that I've worked and still can't see spending some, ..... or in some cases, I could say a lot, of my pay on something that isn't going to really change my ability to make x-ray welds. Ever since I started TIG welding the tried and true method of sharping tungsten was with a bench grinder and a 1/4" drill motor. In some cases a bench grinder wasn't around so in order to sharpen your tungsten you went with a pocket scribe and a regular grinder. For the ones who don't know what a pocket scribe is, it looks like a round soap stone holder, except it's a little smaller and is a scribe with locking jaws and 1/8" and 3/32" tungsten fits right in and can be locked down for sharpening tungsten. You angle the tungsten to the grinding wheel, as you would with a bench grinder, and rotate the holder and sharpen the tungsten. It won't be as nice as using a 1/4" drill to rotate the tungsten, but it does work and you'll get a sharp point. These scribes can be purchased at any LWS and are very cheaply priced.

Now an earlier post said something about leaving grooves in the wheel, on the bench grinder. In order to solve that problem, and this was shown to me years ago from a guy that would really raise H*## if someone left grooves in a bench grinding wheel. When you place the tungsten against the grinding wheel, instead of just keeping the tungsten in one spot, on the wheel, slowly pivot the tungsten across the face, of the wheel, back and forth as you are sharpening the tungsten. This will cause the wheel to wear down evenly and prevent grooves. Doing it this way will make the wheel also last longer.

The same goes for drill bit sharpeners. Everybody has heard of the Drill Doctor. They are nice machines and a few of my friends have them. I've even thought about buying one, but haven't yet. I was taught how to sharpen drill bits, by a machinist years ago. All you need is a gauge that can be purchased at any tool supply store for about $8.00 and preferably a belt sander, but a bench grinder works also.. This gauge will show you the correct angle (the most widely used angle is 118 degrees) the drill bit should have and will also show you if you're sharpening the end of the bit on center or off to one side. It can't get much simpler than that.

Now, before everybody goes off and says that I'm against modern day progress, I'll be the first to say I'm not. If fact, some of the new products DO make our lives a lot better and make our jobs easier to preform and have been instrumental in helping us produce better products and welds. I stand by that 100%. Then sometimes, you have to ask and be really honest with yourself, if this new $200 to over a $1000 machine, is really going to, somehow magically, make me that much better of a welder or improve my welds to the point that the purchase was justified.

It doesn't take a brain surgeon or a person with a PHD to sharpen tungsten or drill bits. Look at it this way, the bottom line is the word "MARKETING". Marketing is a great game to make someone ELSE money.

Before you lay down this amount of your hard earned cash you should ask yourself these questions:

Will this purchase REALLY, REALLY improve my welding skills that much better?

Will this product be that much faster at sharpening tungsten, than the way I do it now? (For that kind of money, with me, ...... it better be LOTS faster.)

Will this product, some now, instantly make my welds look, preform and x-ray better?

You can ask yourself a few more of this type of questions, BUT if you can truthfully answer any of these questions with a NO, then this kind of product is nothing more than something to relieve you of some of your hard earned money and make someone else a little richer.

I know some of the young guns out there are going to say I'm wrong and don't know what I'm talking about, and this is the best product that's come along since the electric can opener and you just can't sharpen tungsten without it, BUT for the ones who've been doing it for awhile and the older more experienced ones, they'll know what I'm saying. There's other things, on the market, that will have more effect on improving your welding skills and cost you lots less.

I'm just trying to help save you some money. Just really think about it.

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Agree! I can sharpen tungsten on a bench, angle, **** and even a die grinder (in a bind). I really do t think a 150$ grinder will do any better. Here is a little tip drill a hole in the guard on your angle grinder and I bet it's twice as fast.

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Well I had 27.00 burning a hole in my pocket so I ordered and received one of the PPEADJ model grinders from my local AirGas suppliers. I have only used once on a 3/32 tungsten and so far I am impressed and think it should be worth the price tag especially for the novice hobby TIG welderlike myself.

Only time will tell.....remember as a novice I am forced to grind my tungsten more frequently than you professionals that don't get your tungsten contaminated as often as I do. I am still learning to TIG..............